MUSIC WEEK AWARDS 2008: Concert Promoter Of The Year.

WINNER - SIMON MORAN, SJM

In a year that saw the big names out in force, led by the return of the Spice Girls, Prince and Led Zeppelin, with 10.7m fans visiting the National Arena Association's 16 venues alone, concert promoters were certainly not short of opportunities.

Harvey Goldsmith organised arguably the most high-profile show of the year, the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute concert at The 02, which was a chance for him to use innovative registration and ticketing methods as a frontline tactic against the secondary-ticketing market while making sure the sheer joy of seeing Led Zeppelin was not muted.

According to AEG's Rob Hallett, promoting Prince's 21-nights at The O2 was a career highlight. Already busy enough promoting shows for Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Barbra Streisand and The Rolling Stones, Hallett orchestrated one of the most talked-about gigs of the year because of its democratic pricing policy, album giveaway and the quality of supporting acts which included MIA, Amy Winehouse and Beverly Knight.

However, the judges were most impressed with the way in which SJM's Simon Moran handled his brief. Moran managed to sustain interest in a Take That tour in its second year, while pitching classical crossover show Viva la Diva and co-promoting the Spice Girls' comeback tour with AEG.

Moran's reputation for supporting new ...